Boris Was Right - Hawaii Should Be Croatian

What a pity the two countries missed the chance to unite - it would have been like two supermodels marrying each other!

Long ago, in 2005, when Croatia was just a young democracy with no sense of responsible politics, one of the candidates for the president was a successful American businessman with no political experience, full of big promises, boasting, and populist rhetoric. His name was Boris Miksic. Unfortunately, as I said, Croatia was inexperienced and we didn't elect him. However, Boris, a homeboy from Cherryville, Croatia, a self-made millionaire, who went to the US, according to him, with only two dollars in his pocket, like a ship mouse in a Disney cartoon, gave us a lot to think about. Should the government be run like a company? Does electing a political outsider helps fight political corruption? And most importantly, why is Hawaii not part of Croatia?

Those are very important questions and the majority of people would find them universal, but his comment that: If Croatian foreign policy was better, we would now have Hawaii as a part of Croatian territory shocked the country. At first, some of us thought he was having a mental meltdown, while the majority of people just ignored it, their brains blocking something that could not be processed. But the conviction in his voice forced me to follow up his historical critique. That, and also my unquenchable need for global domination. What I found out blew me away like a lehua wind.

There is an American-Croatian myth about last days of independent Hawaii. The first Queen and last monarch of the Kingdom was Lili'uokalani, famous also as the composer of Aloha 'Oe, the most famous song and a cultural symbol for Hawaii. In 1862, Lili'uokalani married John Owen Dominis, an American-born statesman of Croatian origin who became Prince Consort of the Kingdom of Hawaii on their marriage. Now, Croatian origin is not enough. One has to act in a certain way to be called "Croatian". According to Lili'uokalani's memoir, during a court excursion, Dominis escorted her home, despite falling from his horse and breaking his leg. Also, although they never had any children of their own, John had a natural son, John 'Aimoku Dominis, with Lamiki 'Aimoku, a servant of his wife. Queen Lili'uokalani accepted her husband's infidelity and adopted her husband's son. Croatian? Checked!

So, we have a Hawaiian-Croatian Prince Consort, and an adopted Hawaiian-Croatian prince. So, how come Hawaii never became part of Croatia - besides the fact that the whole planet separates them? You got it -America. Not the continent, but the United States. In 1893, five American nationals, one British national, and one German national, all of whom were living and doing business in Hawaii, overthrew the Queen, her cabinet, and her marshal, and took over the government of Hawaii, which then became a republic until the United States annexed it in 1898.

23/08/2018 16:04:05

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Cortec's CEO and His Wife Celebrate Ford Milestone

Ford Motor Company celebrated quite the milestone when its world-famous car hit eight digits on the production ticker. As of Wednesday,
a whopping 10 million Mustangs have been built since the car was put on the market in 1964. That officially, means that there are more Mustangs in the wild than there are people in Michigan. The Ford Mustang, iconic American car and a symbol of cool was celebrated for decades in songs and movies. Boris Miksic, CEO of Cortec Corporation, world leader in green corrosion protection technologies, and his wife Ines, congratulate Ford as they are passionate collectors of classic cars, Mustang being one of their favorites.

"Our Mustang is classic American car that I found in a garage in Beli Manastir, Croatia where one of my plants is located and had it restored", says this successful Croatian-American entrepreneur. "Co-incidentally, it was built the same year that I sold my Citroen 2CV to pay for our voyage via Malnitz in search of the American dream. Good year. Great, fast car."

But there is also the story behind this 1973 Mustang which makes it so special for this married couple. For my 59th birthday, I was in Croatia at our plant in Beli Manastir, a city on the northern border. Ines, whom I recently met was not my wife yet at that time. She called me and said she was in Germany. I jumped in my Mustang and drove full speed all the way to Germany to have a romantic evening with her.
Our lucky red Mustang convertible brought us together for the rest of our lives. I can repeat the words of Jim Farley, Ford President of Global Markets, "Mustang is a smile-maker in any language."

13/08/2018 10:40:55

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The American Dream

When Boris Miksic arrived in the United States in 1974,
he had 35 dollars in his pocket. Today, the chemical
business he started from scratch in his garage
has evolved into a 100-million dollar multinational
enterprise. This is the story of a young man from Croatia
who made the American dream his reality.

Boris Miksic grew up in humble circumstances
in Zagreb, Croatia, in the country that was
then known as Yugoslavia. Having excelled at
school, he went on to obtain a Masters degree in
Mechanical Engineering from the University of
Zagreb. In 1972, just as he was about to graduate, Miksic's
life changed forever.
An active member of the student movement against
the Communist regime that ruled Yugoslavia at the time,
Miksic had been identified as an agitator and blacklisted
by the government. In practice, this meant he would never
be able to work in Yugoslavia. He made a decision then and
there to emigrate to the United States.
"I picked up my degree and fled the country, skiing across
the border into Austria, before purchasing a one-way ticket
to New York for me and my first wife, who was pregnant at
the time," he recalls.
He arrived in New York in February 1974, with $35 in
his pocket.
"I did what all immigrants do, tried to find work. After
three months of cleaning floors at McDonald's, I landed a
job as an engineer with a company in Minnesota."

Hard work in the cold

Miksic soon grew tired of working for the small construction
company in St. Paul, Minnesota. He resigned, thinking he
would find another opportunity.
"Turns out I was wrong, I couldn't find another job," he
admits. "In the end I started mixing chemicals in my garage.
It was the winter of 1977, when temperatures reached -35
Celsius, and all I can say is that being that cold certainly
makes you work harder."
Fast-forward to 2017 and the business Miksic started
in his garage has just celebrated its 40th anniversary.
Cortec Corporation and its subsidiaries is the world's
largest privately held corrosion protection enterprise.
Today, it has an annual turnover of USD 120 million, 350
employees, nine plants, distribution in over 100 countries
on all continents, and has amassed more than 60 patents.
In addition to the basic metals and mining, Cortec serves
the automotive, oil and gas, metalworking, construction,
electronics, MRO (maintenance, repair and operation),
military, water treatment, heavy industry and packaging
segments.
"I think you can succeed anywhere if you have the right
mix of ambition and perseverance but, of course, being
in the U.S. has its advantages," says Miksic. "Firstly, it's a
pretty big pond, so, even if you're a little fish, you're doing ok.
Another plus is that people here like it if you have something
new and different to offer."

08/02/2018 10:17:45

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Merry Christmas

Boris & Ines

The guys wish you both a very Merry Christmas in a unique Korean style!

(Don't ask me how Ken got the Santa costume -- but I like to see their smiles.)

Blessings for the New Year!

27/12/2017 09:18:16

Promotion of "Poems of My Youth" at EcoCortec's Annual Family Party!

EcoCortec's team held Annual Family Party in front of beautiful Patria hotel in Beli Manastir. Every year our EcoCortec family gathers for a big employee party to share some nice moments and have loads of fun! The whole team along with our CEO Boris Miksic and his dear wife Ines as always enjoyed delicious Baranja specialties remembering best events that marked this past year.

We are especially happy that the new Mayor of Beli Manastir has joined us and shared this special evening with us. This year's gathering though was a bit different with a more personal note. Cortec's CEO Boris is known for his outstanding business career but as he always likes to emphasize, it is very important for a person to pursue different interests and dreams. This is what makes our life richer and more beautiful.

During his high school days in the 60-ties Boris was interested in poetry and wrote many beautiful poems which many years later his mom Nina has found and compiled in a book "Poems of my youth" . This book Boris dedicated to her and his beloved wife Ines. This promotion of Boris' poetry book was held in a magic, romantic atmosphere of Baranja's summer evening. While Anita Schmidt - member of the Osijek National Theatre read the poems along with melancholy music the whole audience was taken away by these verses.

Boris through these poems speaks about discovering the world, first love, happiness but also a sense of loss, transience and all the things that are part of youth and one person's life. With a touch of nostalgia they demonstrate the old times when everything seemed to be much slower and people cherished some other values. Yet from the poems it is clear that thoughts, feelings and contemplations about life and love haven't changed much to this day. The songs picture old Zagreb and Island of Mali Losinj, two most important places of Boris' childhood and young adult days

The gathered crowd was truly impressed by this emotional repertoire. Our guests remembered days of their own youth, their loves and pains as the themes of Boris's poems are something that most people can relate to. This specifically is the reason why his poetry truly touched the hearts of everyone.

After the promotion Boris signed the book for our attendees. His poems seemed to inspire our guests to remember and share numerous stories and anecdotes from their past which somehow tend to be forgotten in the speed of everyday modern life. This was the main purpose of publishing "Poems of my youth" and this magic evening. To slow down for just a second, celebrate love and life in all its fullness to remember that we are here for just a while and to cherish every moment we have.

12/07/2017 11:04:53

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Thank You

Greetings Boris. We sincerely appreciate your work behind the scenes to make this Sister City exchange a possibility and such an amazing adventure. Mayor Dobos and the Council from Beli Manastir welcomed us with open arms and the signing ceremony was just wonderful. We came away from Beli Manastir with a much better understanding of the economic development challenges they face, yet see their deep pride and true resiliency in their community. Your passion for your company and Croatia are very apparent. Your mother was a joy and it was so wonderful to meet her. The City of Cambridge looks forward to hosting a delegation from Beli Manastir and sharing with them our area's resources and heritage. We are working on finding a US distributor for the Belje wines at our local Northbound Liquor Store so we can begin sharing the fine Croatian wines with Minnesotans. Our team also wants you to know just how amazing your Coretec employees are! They gave so freely of their time to help us learn about Beli Manastir and Croatia while we were there. It was deeply appreciated and made this trip so productive and memorable.

Greetings Tim. I hope all is well with you. I sincerely want to thank you again for being such a gracious travel companion and guiding us throughout our travels! Seeing Eco Coretec was amazing. Our trip to Croatia was exhilarating and information filled. We sincerely appreciate all the efforts from Ivana, Anna, Ivan, Diana, and Predrag to make us feel welcome and provide such wonderful Croatian to English translations. Stan, Joe, and I have come away with an amazing appreciation for all that Coretec provides not only in Cambridge but throughout the world.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart. Words can't express how grateful I am for the opportunity to build this Sister City relationship!!

We are more than proud to announce that the City of Beli Manastir located in the region of Baranja, Croatia and City of Cambridge, Minnesota will be joined in sister city organization. City leaders have strongly supported this initiative and therefore a formal signing ceremony of proclamation of sistership between two cities will take place in Beli Manastir during celebration of "Day of the City" on Friday, November 11th, 2016.

The sistership of two cities was initiated by President/CEO of Cortec® Corporation Mr. Boris Miksic.
EcoCortec®- one of the most advanced bioplastics plants in Europe is part of Cortec® Corporation Group
and is located in Beli Manastir, Croatia. This connection is the result of long-term successful businesses
of Cortec®'s manufacturing facilities, EcoCortec® in Beli Manastir and Cortec® Advanced Films in
Cambridge, MN. The idea of sistership occurred from the fact that both Cortec®'s plants greatly
contribute to their local economies and communities.

The concept of establishing cooperation between cities in the form of sistership is very developed worldwide as a way of promoting economic, human, cultural, educational, and commercial relations between nations. This type of city connection is valuable in encouraging a better mutual understanding, which makes an excellent base for more structured functioning of local community and strengthening its development strategies.

04/11/2016 16:02:45

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The bright future!

26/07/2016 10:12:03

Croatian bioplastics plant celebrates 10th anniversary

In 2006, Croatian-American entrepreneur Boris Miksic decided it was time to take a chance.

Having emigrated to the United States, where he set up a highly successful business called Cortec Corporation, for his next venture he returned to his native country of Croatia.

EcoCortecIn 2006, he launched the EcoCortec project with a greenfield investment in Croatia.

And from these modest beginnings, the business has grown and flourished.

EcoCortec is a special project for Miksic. As he explains: "At one point I felt it was the right time to the transfer my rich business experience to Croatia and start this journey.

After 10 years I can safely say not only that I was right but that EcoCortec has exceeded all of my expectations!"

Today the plant has evolved in one of the most modern European manufacturers of environmentally safe films for corrosion protection.

The company has shown continuous growth -the result, says Miksic, of its innovative technology, combined with high efficiency products with environmentally safe properties.

"We have excellent people, from managers, engineers to production workers,"Miksic noted.v "Our team proves that Croatia can provide 'know how' technology and its professionals can compete everywhere in the world."

For Miksic, EcoCortec is a Croatian story of business excellence that, he says,"will break world boundaries".[READ MORE]

07/06/2016 11:24:39

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Joakim Dock

Dear Ines and Boris.

Christmas is on it's way and we would like to send you a Christmas greating from all of us with some nice pictures from our visit in Sarasota. It's really great memories for all of us.

Thanks again!

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!!!

Joakim & Josephine and the boys

14/12/2015 09:45:12

Cortec's 1st Edition of "VpCI® Technology Handbook" Now
Available!

Publisher, Cortec® Corporation
and author, Boris Miksic
FNACE, have the pleasure to
announce the 1st Edition of
"VpCI® Technology Handbook".
This manual compiles years of
research and testing that provide
valuable information on Vapor
phase Corrosion Inhibitor
technology and solutions to fight corrosion."I never realized how much good research has been
generated since our modest beginnings 37 years ago", says book author and Cortec's
President/CEO Boris Miksic.

The new"VpCI® Technology Handbook" is assembled into two volumes, with over 1200 pages
of case studies, testing, publications, case histories, products, and more supporting evidence of the
efficacy of the VpCI® technology.

For over 150 years, corrosion and the degradation of metals and nonmetallic materials has been
the subject of heavy scientific studies. Corrosion has a great impact on the safety and reliability of
an extremely wide range of industries, such as energy production, transportation, biomedical
engineering, water distribution and sewerage, electronics, and nanotechnology. In economic
terms, the corrosion phenomenon, can greatly affect a nation's Gross Domestic Product.
According to A study by CC Technologies Laboratories, from 1999 to 2001 the total annual estimated cost of corrosion in the United States was estimated at $276 billion, equal to
approximately 3.1% of the nation's GDP. Corrosion also affects military and national
infrastructures.[READ MORE]

15/09/2014 09:42:32

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American Dreamer

Armed with only an expired passport and cross-country skis, Boris Miksic made a daring escape from his homeland, Croatia, in early 1974.

Miksic, who joined fellow college students in anti-communist protests against Yugoslavia, the ruling republic over Croatia, skied his way to freedom in Austria. The biggest delay: avoiding landmines. Once in Austria, Miksic reunited with his then-pregnant wife, Olga, who also fled Croatia. The couple sold their car for $400 in Austria, money they used for one-way plane tickets to the United States. They had $37 left after paying for the tickets.

Those were the early days of what has since become a 40-year business odyssey that’s taken Miksic from New York to Minnesota to Manatee County. There was also the stop along the way to run for president for Croatia.

“Boris has always had a determination to control his own destiny,” says Eric Haugen, a Minneapolis patent attorney who has worked with Miksic for years. “There is a sprit in him that led him to come to America, and he’s never laid back and become comfortable, despite his successes.”

The heart of the Miksic business story is Cortec Corp., which manufactures and supplies corrosion protection chemicals for a variety of construction-related and industrial businesses. Miksic founded Cortec in his garage in St. Paul, Minn., in 1977. It has since grown to eight locations worldwide, from Canada to Brazil, with around 300 employees and more than $100 million in sales. Miksic won an Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year award in Minnesota in 2000 for Cortec’s growth.

Even with that success, Miksic, 65, isn’t ready to coast into retirement. Instead, he will spend at least $10 million to open the Cortec Biotechnology Campus in a Manatee County industrial park, a few miles north of the Sarasota Bradenton International Airport.

The facility, in a 33,335-square-foot building, will be a manufacturing plant for some of the firm’s patented products. It will also be a distribution center, Miksic says, for Cortec clients in the Southeast U.S. and the Caribbean. Miksic expects to hire at least 50 people, a mix of engineers, chemists and IT personnel, to staff the facility. He projects it will open early next year after a test phase later this year.[READ MORE]

10/09/2014 14:34:26

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"Lady Bavarkica" Bentley Raced LeMans Race Like There's No Tomorrow!

Boris Miksic owner of EcoCortec d.o.o. has been invited by Bentley Motors to the inaugural event "Back to LeMans, Back to Racing". Over the history of the 24 hours of LeMans, Bentley motorcars won this endurance race more times than any other brand. Recently Ines Miksic took the delivery of her Bentley Continental GTC Speed Convertible at Bentley of Munich dealership as a birthday gift. The car was commissioned by Bentley Motors as "Lady Bavarkica" in honor of her Bavarian heritage and her husband ordered her car in Neptune blue color symbolizing the legendary blue color of Bavarian skies (and her eyes).

Due to traffic congestion around Mulsanne Ines and I lost connection with the Bentley convoy as we were approaching the race track. All of a sudden we were surrounded with a bunch of race cars mostly Ferraris, Lamborghinis and occasional Ford GT and MacLaren. The noise around was so intense as the drivers in their helmets were revving up their engines, so we could not ask where were the rest of the Bentleys. Our GTC Speed was the only Bentley in the crowd of racers that were way too serious for this event and there was no shortage of adrenaline. Once the gate to the track opened the hell broke loose as those "maniacs" catapulted as this was a real 24 hours of LeMans race. All of a sudden my adrenaline kicked in so I decided to put our 635 horses to work tuta forca! MacLaren next to us worth several million euros was quite annoying with high pitch sound of its racing engine so I decided to show him how GTC can "kick but".

There was a chaos around us with crazy Ferraris, Lotuses, Porches racing like there's no tomorrow. As it was raining quite heavily, I decided to use the power of W12 in straight stretches and inside track in sharp curves as our GTC was much heavier than MacLaren. At one point during second circle a black Porche catapulted out of nowhere between us probably topping over 250 km/h while we were pacing at 220. I thought for a second the Porsche driver was a bit out of control but my eyes were on MacLaren trying to keep pace with the legendary race car. [READ MORE]

14/07/2014 13:42:33

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Cortec Corporation Moves Part of its Organization to Manatee County

MANATEE -- A Croatian businessman known for a nearly successful run for the presidency of his home nation has purchased a Parkland Center industrial building and is bringing part of his Minnesota-based chemical manufacturing business to Manatee County.

Boris Miksic, the chairman, president and CEO of anti-corrosion product manufacturer Cortec Corporation, purchased a 32,553-square foot building at 2420 Trailmate Drive for $1.4 million on May 15. The seller was 2420 Trailmate LLC, a company managed by Palmetto real estate investor Peter VanDerNoord.

Miksic said he plans to make the building a future site of a Cortec biotechnology campus. The campus will employ at least 50 people after it opens this August. Currently, more than 200 people work for Cortec in the United States and Croatia.

A U.S. resident since fleeing Yugoslavia in the early 1970s, Miksic has worked in the chemical engineering field for most of his career. According to his website, borismiksic.net, he settled in Minnesota and founded his own technology company, Cortec.

He sold that company to Sealed Air Corporation in 1984, but got it back in a leveraged buyout in 1988.

"Four years later, I had the sense to buy it back," Miksic said.

Cortec's annual revenues exceed $100 million, he said.

Cortec Corporation manufactures and sells a line of corrosion inhibitors and other chemicals used in industries, including packaging, metal working and construction. Miksic said the Manatee County Cortec campus will house an office, a manufacturing facility, a warehouse and two laboratories for biotechnology and marine corrosion research.
[READ MORE]

26/05/2014 09:46:26

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Congratulations Boris Miksic, Member #157330, on forty years of membership with NACE!

It was January 1, 1974 that Mr. Boris Miksic joined NACE, the world's largest Corrosion Society with over 30,000 members from all over the world. During his forty years, Boris has contributed to the organization in many ways including attending all NACE National meetings since 1975, exhibiting on behalf of Cortec Corporation at all NACE Expo's since 1976, along with attending many regional meetings and conferences including India, Middle East, Australia, China, LatinCorr, and the European Corrosion Conference and Expo. He has made many friends along the way such as Robert Legault,Professor Bavarian, Harry Byers, John Trim, Roger Staehle, Terry May, Ernie Kletchka, Hartley Duncan and Pete Rossy.

During his 40 years as a NACE member, Mr. Miksic has built one of the largest privately held corrosion protection companies in the world, Cortec® Corporation. Without a single dollar from outside investment, Cortec® has grown into four plants in the United States, one in Canada, and one in Europe, with operations in 96 countries. He holds 43 US and foreign patents in the field of corrosion protection, which have been developed into the most advanced line of corrosion inhibitors, consisting of over 500 chemical products and systems. Boris has had 150 Publications in international technical magazines and seminars and has been compiling for years, the definitive manual, "Preservation, Lay-up, and Mothballing Handbook" for Equipment and Plants, in its 3rd edition, which is now over 971 pages.

NACE has recognized Boris throughout the past for his dedication and service to the field of corrosion protection. He has been commended with the following NACE awards: NACE Fellow (2000), NACE International Distinguished Organization Award and the NACE International Frank Newman Speller Award for contributions to the practice of corrosion engineering both at CORROSION/2004, and the Readers' Choice Award, Materials Performance Magazine (NACE), 2013.

Boris has had an impact on the corrosion control culture by serving as the Chairman of NACE Symposia on Volatile Corrosion Inhibitors (VCI's) 1976, 1979, 1983, 1987, 1994 and 1997; Chairman of NACE Task Groups T-3A-4, T-3A-12, and T-5J-2; and Officer of the Twin City Chapter of NACE (1985/1986). As a contributor to the NACE Handbook on Corrosion Inhibitors (1989), with initiated efforts sponsored by Unit Committee T-3A, which resulted in consensus approval of NACE RP0487-
2000 a Recommended Practice: "Considerations in the Selection and Evaluation of Rust Preventives and Vapor Corrosion Inhibitors for Interim (Temporary) Corrosion Protection". He has had 14 papers presented at NACE technical and research symposia's, 9 papers published in Materials Performance Magazine, and 1 paper published in Corrosion Magazine. He has been the invited lecturer to many NACE Chapters: Twin Cities (4), Greater Boston MA (3), LatinCorr (3), International Chinese Anti- Corrosion Conference (3), Chicago IL (2), Lafayette LA, Ponca City OK, Corpus Christi and Beaumont TX, Detroit MI, Northern Indiana, Dammam Saudi Arabia, North Central Regional Ines and Boris receiving the 2013 Reader's Choice Award, Materials Performance Magazine. Meetings in Minneapolis MN and Columbus OH, the Australian Corrosion Society Sydney, Technology Institute Moscow, JETRO Tokyo, and the NACE India Section Mumbai.

Sporazum s Hrvatskom!

"With $37 in our pockets and much apprehension in our hearts, we flew toward our future. We had no time to think what lay ahead because the future conies to soon anyhow."

American Dream: A Guy From Croatia is the exciting saga of a man who fled his home country with nothing but change in his pockets and built a successful company with determination and guts in America. It's a story of business savvy and risk taking that will arouse the entrepreneurial spirit in every reader.

"When he arrived in the United States, Boris Miksic brought along energy, intelligence and determination. But also a dream. He was the Croatian gift to America. Today, as a successful entrepreneur, he is the American gift to Croatia."